Let us understand Turn Around of Indian Railways .

Henceforth, any person in the West Central and North Central zones would not be able to get more than two tickets a day from a reservation centre.

In a bid to check touts and ensure tickets to genuine passengers, Indian Railways has started a pilot project, under which a ticket seeker would get ticket only after giving a thumb impression on a machine at the counter, which would be documented and automatically matched to prevent more than two bookings by the same person.

“If the results are satisfactory, we will also consider its replication in other zones also,” a senior Railway official said.

Railways has already incorporated certain changes in its reservation system to prevent agents from booking tickets through internet during the initial hours. Under existing provisions no authorised agents are allowed to book Tatkal ticket from 10 am to 12 noon. There is also a restriction on allowing these agents to book non-Tatkal tickets between 8 am and 10 am on a day.

“These restrictions were available only for ticket through IRCTC’s website. We are considering extending these restrictions even to the reservation counters,” officials said. In the process to revamp its reservation system, the IRCTC is enhancing the capacity of its central server to provide hassle-less ticket reservation.

A new deposit scheme is also being considered that will eliminate the need for a payment gateway and fund transfer from bank, thereby reducing time consumed in reservation.

Under this scheme, a passenger would be required to deposit a minimum amount with the IRCTC and he can use it for getting reservation. The fund transfer would be internal and would reduce possibilities of “non-transfer of amount”. The refund process would also become easier and faster.